The bands and artists for the 2012 Savannah Stopover have been announced, and while there are some names that’ll be familiar from last year’s inaugural festival, the majority are not only entirely new to the Stopover, they’ve never played Savannah before.
The Stopover takes place March 7–10, at a cross–section of 10 to 20 local clubs and venues to be announced.
Among the returnees: Prince Rama, Cheyenne Marie Mize, Oberhofer, Secret Mountains, Jon Lindsay, Little Tybee and Country Mice.
Stopover chieftain Kayne Lanahan hasn’t yet named the local artists that will be participating in the new edition of Savannah’s premiere indie music fest. That's still being sorted out.
Here we go: The new names are Grandchildren, Born Gold, Caveman, Christ Lord, Deleted Scenes, Delicate Steve, Dinosaur Feathers, Dive, Eternal Summers, Grimes, Hooded Fang, Idiot Glee, Janka Nabay, Jukebox the Ghost, Pond, Quilt, Royal Baths, Savoir Adore, Sleepy Vikings, Spanish Prisoners, The Big Sleep, The Knocks, The Loom, The Love Language, The Men, The Minutes, The Suzan, The War on Drugs, Tops, Turbo Fruits, Whyless River, Young Empires and Zambri.
Grimes is 23–year–old Claire Boucher from Canada, whose music is a captivating blend of dance/electronica and extremely catchy pop. Think of her as the 2012 version of last year’s Stopover dance diva, Class Actress.
The date for Grimes – with venue still TBA – is March 9.
She’s about to drop the album Visions through 4AD Records, “a record label I have admired since I was 13 and first heard the Cocteau Twins and realized girls can make music,” she tweeted recently. “And goth is sick.”
Nashville’s Turbo Fruits is a blues and R&B–infused punk quartet fronted by singer and songwriter Jonas Stein; the band appeared in in the roller derby movie Whip It, directed by Drew Barrymore, as the backing band for Nashville musician/actor Landon Pigg. Called a “can’t–miss band” at the 2010 CMJ by Spin.
The War on Drugs is an acclaimed Americana band from Philadelphia, loud, brash and Tom Petty–anthemic. According to Rolling Stone, the band “sounds like Bob Dylan cranking out jams with Sonic Youth.” The War on Drugs’ new 7–inch, “Come to the City” b/w “Don’t Fear the Ghost,” comes out Jan. 24.
The idea behind Savannah Stopover is simple: The majority of these acts are headed to Austin to showcase at the big SXSW conference March 13-18.
Lanahan and company are looking for local bands and artists, and regional ones too, to open shows and to play “Locals Only Day Shows”; the information (including compensation details) is at www.sonicbids.com/Opportunity/OpportunityView.aspx?opportunity_id=106568.
At savannahstopover.com, you can already buy full passes (for all four days) for $75, or a one–day pass for $30. VIP passes (with some goodies attached) are $120.
Stay with us here for the latest Stopover info.
